Where Miss Snark vented her wrath on the hapless world of writers and crushed them to sand beneath her T.Rexual heels of stiletto snark. The blog is dark--no further updates after 5/20/2007.

4.07.2007

"The test of whether or not a writer has divined the natural shape of his story is just this: after reading it, can you imagine it differently, or does it silence your imagination and seem to you absolute and final."

Truman Capote

"Well written stories are vivid, uninhibited, and pungently phrased, with sudden and surprising flashes of insight"

I snagged the Capote quote for my Reader's Almanac project. He's full of valuable insights.

Here's one from him in return:

"You must make the reader read in your cycle, and you can only do that with punctuation. Always punctuate that way instead of grammatically, and don't let anybody change that. You'll trap your reader into your own breathing, and then the reader is trapped."

I love that quote. I use very idiosyncratic punctuation in my writing. Not non-grammatical, just odd when I compare it to what others do. This is, in part, because I write humour and punctuation is a major tool in controlling timing. And that quote is why - I just never sat down long enough to analyse it and put it so neatly. I need people's minds to breathe in rythm with mine so that their eyes deliver the words at just the right time. Thank you. That kills off another subconscious worry-demon.